Enjoying Adam Lambert’s Spectacle With The Mute On

IN YOUR FACE

Enjoying The ‘Glambert’ Spectacle With The Mute Button On

By Calhoun Kersten

ADAM LAMBERT FOUND A DARING WAY TO UP THE ANTE at the 2009 American Music Awards. Crotch shots and the men who love them aren’t high on the list of concerns of the FCC, despite Lambert’s simulated blow job being censored from the West Coast broadcast.

Amid the controversy, people forget this show’s supposed to be about the music. And Adam Lambert fails as a musician. From a technical standpoint, the instruments frequently drown out his voice. And when they don’t, I find myself wishing they would.

But “Glambert” captivates because he’s a spectacle, which gratefully distracts from his screechy vocals. And now he’s proven his worth as entertainer — and political provocateur.

With his in-your-face sexuality on last Sunday’s stage, Lambert dumped homosexuality into America’s living rooms. And when the backlash ensued, he called the censoring of his act “a double standard,” citing the infamous kiss between Britney and Madonna as proof of America’s bias against male homosexuality. The repercussions, in particular the cancelling of his appearance on Good Morning America, gives his performance an undeniable political edge.

The result has been that Lambert’s blitz on American pop culture has started an important dialogue. People are being forced to take sides, debate gay rights, and revisit the perpetual debate over censorship. By getting people talking about real issues that affect the lives of Americans in the “land of the free,” Lambert forces us to confront the truth that gays still don’t have the rights that most of us take for granted.

Whether deliberately or by accident, Adam Lambert has taken on a “cause.” He has politicized himself in a bold way that has won me over, even if I’ll continue to watch his performances on mute.

Calhoun Kersten is a Cincinnati, Ohio native who now calls Chicago home. He is a senior in the film program at Columbia College Chicago.

16 Comments

He has given much better live performances where his vocals are amazing (check out some youtube clips from Idol, his pre-Idol days at the Zodiac Show, singing The Prayer at a Jewish charity event) etc.
For Your Entertainment is one of those pop songs that few could sing well. There is a reason why many pop stars lip sync.
Also check out his performances on Letterman and the Early show.
He is a good singer.

Have you heard Adam outside this performance? His voice was screechy at the AMAs, but he’s an incredibly talented singer with an amazing voice. He was actually named the second most technically skilled rock singer of all time.

I have to agree with a previous comment. It was a very difficult song to sing LIVE and there were a lot of other artists that night that were lipsynching. So for the singing part, it is understandable. Because his voice is without doubt unbelievable!! He can hit notes most singers dream of hitting!! & For his show.. People get over it!! There are worst things being shown on Tv and no one comments on them or criticized them!

Unfortunatly you are right about the AMA singing performance.
Adam said it himself.
He is a tremendous vocalist, and people that didn’t hear him before AMA will discover him as the great talent he is in the future.

Please don’t let the AMAs deter you. Adam’s CD For Your Entertainment is TRULY an Entertainment!! It is spectacular on a number of levels and there is at least one song on there that EVERYONE will like….and it won’t be the same song for everyone! I can listen to every track over and over! WAY TO GO ADAM!! THANK YOU FOR ENTERTAINING US WITH THIS AWESOME DEBUT!!! IT IS WELLLL WORTH THE WAIT WE HAD FOR IT!! CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU PERFORM IT LIVE!!!!!!!

Adam is an amazing vocalist!
The AMA’s wasn’t his best, but I stand by his past Idol performances, his pre-Idol work, and most of all his current CD that continually keeps blowing me away.
He’s the best I’ve heard in a long time.
I’ll be a life time fan!

He even said that he would do over his singing. It was a hard song to sing and I think he did a good job. we know that he has an amazing voice and can sing his face off. I think he was too charged up. I give him A LOT of credit for not giving shit about anybody. I will forever be his fan. The gyu is true to who he is and an AMAZING person. His acting is SUPERB!!!

Your article was weird – it was like it was written by 2 people. Was it?
In the first half I have to respond – “Amid the controvercy” over Adam people forget that nearly every act before his was also highly sexually charged, but the performances were done by women – so they raised NO controversy – which is where the double-standard comes in. “Lambert fails as a musician” because he didn’t lip-sync like the others – he tried to sing with bad accoustics, a messed up sound system and his ear-piece died. “..the instruments frequently drowned out his voice..” which is a mixer problem not under his control.
In the second half of your article, you’re right – Adam has opened up an important dialogue, now it remains to be seen if it continues and leads to change, or the ball gets dropped yet AGAIN.
Check out his CD – I bet you like it 🙂 Here’s his music video of “For Your Entertainment” – it’s HOT! Too bad his AMA performance didn’t look like this!!:http://www.adamofficial.com/us/home
A Change Is Gonna Come!

LOVED the performance,a slap into the face of ignorant,close-minded people,a wake-up call for artistic freedom.he got a little carried away,he said himself,..he s young,he ll learn!What ABC did was just a horrifieing discrimination-act!
AMA knew the song,the lyrics are very clear ,promising it will NOT be a “Mad World”-performance!Agree,sadly the vocals were far away from his capacities!!!But he was very nervious and he has the right.He got lost a little bit in the very complex choreografie and the wild movements everywhere over the place and I think there were also tecnical mix-problems.I m a Glambert for lifetime and beyond!!

You honestly should check out Adam’s performances on YouTube. I don’t ever watch American Idol, but week after week co-workers would come in gushing about this Adam guy, so I checked some of his pre-idol stuff on YouTube. I was floored, and never missed an AI show afterwards. I even bought tickets to the AI tour and though I’d been blown away by his pre-idol videos, tv appearances, and videos of the tour, his live performance far exceeded my wildest expectations.
The AMA’s had a problem with their sound system that night, and even Adam admitted it wasn’t his finest vocal performance, but if you judge him on that you are doing him and yourself a disservice. He is simply the most gifted performer I’ve ever heard, and being 58, I’ve grown up hearing some of the best.
Honestly, buy the new cd (which has something for every taste), watch some of his videos, and above all, see him live if you can. People in the business are blown away by his vocals. You will be too.

What did you think of Janet Jackson’s and Whitney Houston’s performances? How can a so-called journalist/ reporter/music critic,such as yourself, miss something was wrong with the sound system? I noticed it first note Janet hit. But I know she could sing better than that. So will I make myself look like an idiot by trashing her singing? No. Dumb idea.